Florida GC vs. Florida Spread

Carrie Stroup here with your Florida GC vs. Florida spread courtesy of Sportsbook.com, where you can claim your FREE $100 bet here. 

Sportsbook.ag Line & Total: Florida -13 & 136

Florida Gulf Coast tries to extend its historic NCAA Tournament run for another game when it takes on third-seeded Florida on Friday night in Arlington, TX.

The Eagles became the first 15th seed to reach the Sweet 16, knocking off Georgetown and San Diego State last weekend by 10 points in each game. FGCU is now 6-0 ATS for the season and has won seven straight games SU since losing at Stetson on Feb. 22. Another tall task looms on Friday going up against the Gators who have destroyed their two NCAA Tournament opponents by 23.0 PPG, holding Northwestern State (the highest-scoring team in the country) to 47 points and then shooting 57% from the floor in a 14-point victory over Minnesota on Sunday. Florida is 6-2 SU (4-4 ATS) on a neutral court this season, but has been nearly perfect with 3+ days of rest, going 17-1 SU (11-5 ATS) with the extra preparation. Despite hailing from the same state, these schools have met just once, a 94-60 Gators win in 2008.

Florida Gulf Coast has shown some amazing athletic ability for such a small school during this tournament, scoring 79.5 PPG on 50% FG thanks to a bevy of dunks and alley-oops. For the season, the Eagles are scoring 73.5 PPG (42nd in D-I) on 46.2% FG (41st in nation), but they are an average three-point shooting team at 34.2% (149th in nation). Turnovers are most problematic (14.6 TOPG, 271st in nation), and FGCU doesn't shoot free throws particularly well either (67.7%, 225th in D-I). Defensively, the Eagles allow 66.9 PPG on 40.7% FG and 31.0% threes, numbers which are average-to-good when compared to other teams in the land. This school loves to disrupt opposing offenses though, tallying 9.0 steals per game (14th in nation), which gives them a +1.3 TO margin for the season. FGCU has three players that all score more than a dozen points per game, and all make 38% threes, in senior SG Sherwood Brown (15.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG), sophomore SG Bernard Thompson (14.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.8 SPG) and junior SF Chase Fieler (12.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG). Brown is in the midst of a huge postseason, averaging 17.8 PPG and 8.4 RPG, which includes a whopping 20.5 PPG (57% FG) and 8.5 RPG in the two NCAA Tournament wins. Thompson has also gone batty in the Big Dance with 23.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 3.0 SPG, extending his streak of double-figure scoring to 11 straight games. Fieler is averaging 13.6 PPG and 6.2 RPG in the postseason, which includes a solid 10.0 PPG (57% FG) and 5.0 RPG in two NCAA games. The offense usually runs smoothly through PG Brett Comer (8.1 PPG, 6.6 APG), but the team would like him to cut down on his 3.53 TOPG this season. Comer has responded to that challenge with a whopping 24 assists and just five turnovers in the two NCAA tourney wins. He's also looking to score more over the past three games with 14.3 PPG on 45% FG.

Florida leads the nation in scoring margin (+18.2 PPG) with an offense tallying 72.0 PPG and a defense giving up just 53.8 PPG (3rd in nation). The Gators are outshooting teams 48.2% FG (10th in D-I) to 37.8% FG (5th in nation), which includes making 38.2% threes (24th in D-I) and allowing 30.2% threes (28th in nation). Florida is a very smart and efficient team, committing just 11.1 TOPG (23rd in D-I) and 14.2 personal fouls per game (8th in nation) this season. The only real weaknesses for this team are its lack of a shot-blocking force (3.3 BPG, 191st in nation) and subpar free-throw shooting (68.1%, 214th in nation). Five Gators average at least nine points per game, led by PF Erik Murphy (12.8 PPG, 5.5 RPG), who has been on fire in the NCAA Tournament with 16.5 PPG on 13-of-18 FG (72%) plus 6.0 RPG. Murphy is now shooting 54% FG and 46% threes for the season. SGs Mike Rosario (12.5 PPG) and Kenny Boynton (12.1 PPG, 3.0 RPG) aren't known for sharp-shooting, but both players are streaky scorers. Rosario (44.9% FG) exploded in Sunday's win for 25 points on 8-of-12 FG (6-of-9 threes) after a 3-of-9 showing against Northwestern State two days earlier. Boynton (39.3% FG) scored 11 points against the Demons, but struggled with 2-of-8 FG in a seven-point outing versus the Gophers. C Patric Young (10.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG) nearly had his seventh double-double this season in Friday's win (16 pts, 9 reb), but failed to score a basket on Sunday, going 0-for-2 FG. Although Young still made 5-of-6 free throws and grabbed seven rebounds in 26 minutes. PG Scottie Wilbekin (9.2 PPG, 5.0 APG) sports an outstanding 2.41 Ast/TO ratio (28th in nation) and has made 6-of-9 shots so far in the NCAA Tournament, averaging 11.5 PPG and 5.0 APG.

- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter